Playing Megadrive PAL games: 50 or 60hz?

everblue

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I am thinking of getting a Megadrive to play mostly PAL games that are Amiga ports, such as Galahad (Leander), Flashback, Gods etc. Would it make sense to get a 60hz modded console or running these kind of games at 60hz would make the games go faster than intended?

Thanks!
 
The games will be the same as a PAL game.

But the MD games ported from the Amiga originals are awful. Bad voices, bad music.
 
Hmmm so might as well not bother... I was thinking that certain games would benefit from a multi button controller.
 
Yes the games that were ports from the Amiga tend to be low quality. Shadow of the Beast for example.
 
I am thinking of getting a Megadrive to play mostly PAL games that are Amiga ports, such as Galahad (Leander), Flashback, Gods etc. Would it make sense to get a 60hz modded console or running these kind of games at 60hz would make the games go faster than intended?

Thanks!

Bear in mind, that a lot of Amiga games don't even run 50fps, but 25fps, and feel very sluggish. Moving to 60 is often a night and day difference in the smoothness and responsiveness of the game. Some games are notably inferior, while some games actually become playable with the pad. The Mega Drive ports will be coded for 60hz in most cases, but whether that speeds up the gameplay by 17% - and whether that is good or bad - varies.

Shadow of the Beast is an example of a game that's a technical marvel on the Amiga, but a much better game on the PCE. I haven't tried the Mega Drive port, I think, even though I have it on my shelf. I guess I should :)

---------- Post added at 10:18 ---------- Previous post was at 10:16 ----------

Hmmm so might as well not bother... I was thinking that certain games would benefit from a multi button controller.

All of them benefit from that, but may not actually sum up to a better game.

As a side note, a lot of games have been patched for a second button in their WHDLoad slaves.
 
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SoTB is not that bad on the Megadrive.
Actually, i find it easier and warmer than the Amiga version.
The Amiga version is technically better but a very good player cannot possibly go farther than the Castle without cheating.
In the Amiga version, i feel like i'm about to die at any second. I feel the anxiety and the fear wich lead to a constant high adrenalina level.
Not to mention the horrible disk loading sounds each time you die (possibly disk swapping, i can't remember).
Did you know that the game ends in a shoothem up style? I saw that only once in my life thanks to a cheat.
The Megadrive version is way more relaxing and hence worth playing if you have a weak heart.


I also remember that SoTB and Alien Breed were two of the three first games i had on the Amiga when i got my A500 Plus in 1991. Fortunately, the third was Lotus 2. Without Lotus 2, i may have considered the Amiga as a dreadful computer with only hostile and hard games.
 
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25FPS huh... that explains a lot. So even if I play the same games on Megadrives @50hz, these will feel much smoother?
 
Yes. For instance Bitmap Brothers games were all(?) 25fps on Amiga, but could easily run 50/60 on Mega Drive. I don't remember if those particular ports do or not, though :)
 
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It's worth noting that in some cases, Mega Drive ports of Amiga games were made with 50Hz in mind, and even in the cases where that wasn't so, I've found that the PAL-optimised versions were done well. If I'm remembering rightly, the Mega Drive version of Shadow of the Beast at 60Hz is impossibly hard, which earned it a panning in some countries, as it was a rare case of not optimising for NTSC markets. I'm pretty sure I'm remembering the right game, here - there was even a later Japan-only release meant to rectify it, if I recall correctly.

I think sometimes the ports are better than the originals, personally. The Legend of Galahad plays better than Leander in my book, thanks to the extra buttons, having both sound effects and music at the same time (it's nice to be able to hear what's going on!), and (admittedly far less importantly, but it adds polish and atmosphere) some graphical upgrades. Some or all of these also go for the likes of Wiz 'n' Liz, Puggsy, and Zool. (I'd say it applies to Another World, as well, but I personally feel that the SNES version of that is better than the Mega Drive one.)

Some ports are entirely different - in the Mega Drive version of Lemmings, for example, the vast majority of its 180 or so levels are unique to it, with very few being from the Amiga original (and even fewer being slightly altered versions of levels from Oh No! More Lemmings). It's worth picking up if you want to play more Lemmings levels. (I believe this also applied to the unreleased port of Bill's Tomato Game, as well, from what little I've seen about it.)

If we're to include the Mega CD as well, then the definitive version of The Misadventures of Flink (which I think was backported to the CD32, rather than vice-versa) is there, with a higher level of polish, as well as an upgraded version of Puggsy that has some extra stuff and added bosses. I'm told that the Mega CD version of Another World is very good, too, though I've not tried it myself.

I'd say it's worthwhile, personally (indeed, the Mega Drive versions are my preferred versions of some of these games), but it might be worth having a 50Hz/60Hz switch so that you can get the best of both worlds.
 
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